Millions of products are packed in containers or cases such as cardboard boxes for shipping on a daily basis throughout the world. Such boxes are typically rectangular and typically have four central walls (including two spaced-apart end or minor walls and two spaced-apart side or major walls), four bottom flaps (including two spaced-apart end or minor flaps and two spaced-apart side or major flaps), and four top flaps (including two spaced-apart end or minor flaps and two spaced-apart side or major flaps). The bottom end and side flaps of the box are closed before the box is filled with any products or packaging materials. After the box is filled, the open top end and side flaps are respectively folded inwardly and downwardly. The bottom and top ends of the box are sealed by applying tape to the outside surfaces of each of the bottom and top side flaps.
Many different types of automatic box sealers have been known and have been commercially available in the packaging industry. One type of known box sealer is configured for handling boxes that are all uniform in size. These box sealers can typically be adjusted to suit the known width and height of the uniformly sized boxes that they will close and seal.
Another known type of automatic box sealer configured for handling boxes that are not uniform in size is typically called a random size or random box sealer. The known random box sealers must be able to seal different size boxes that are used along the same conveyor line. These different size boxes are typically different in one or more of the width of the box, the length of the box, and the height of the box. These random box sealers must automatically adjust to suit the specific width, length, and height of each box. More specifically, these random box sealers must fold the top end and side flaps and then apply adhesive or tape thereto for each different size box.
Various sensors have been used in known random box sealers to try to determine the exact size of each box entering the random box sealer. Numerous actuators or other adjustment mechanisms together with suitable control devices have also been used to adjust the position of the various folding and sealing components of the known random box sealers to suit the size of each box being closed and sealed. There are many potential and actual issues or problems with various known random box sealers.
One such potential or actual issue or problem with various known random box sealers relates to packaging material. Packaging material such as plastic (e.g., bubble wrap) and paper is often used to protect the products placed in the boxes. If this packaging material sticks out of the top of the box above the top end or side flaps, the sensors and controllers used to determine the height of the box may incorrectly use the height of this packaging to determine the height of the box. If this incorrect measurement or interpretation is made, this can result in the box getting jammed in the box sealer, the box sealer not adequately closing and sealing the box, the box sealer damaging the box, and/or the box sealer damaging the box and the product(s) in the box.
Another such potential or actual issue or problem with various known random box sealers relates to the products in the boxes. Specifically, if the box is overfilled, the product(s) can stick out of the top of the box above the top end or side flaps, and the sensors and controllers used to determine the height of the box may incorrectly use the height of the products to determine the height of the box. If this incorrect measurement or interpretation is made, this can result in the box getting jammed in the box sealer, the box sealer not adequately closing and sealing the box, the box sealer damaging the box, and/or the box sealer damaging the box and the product(s) in the box.
Another potential or actual issue or problem with various known random box sealers relates to the bottom end and side flaps of the box. In certain instances, when the bottom end and side flaps are closed, they are not completely closed or sealed and thus the bottom of the box is not completely flat. In other words, sometimes the bottom of the box is bowed downwardly. This causes the box to sit up higher on the conveyor(s) as the box moves through the random box sealer, and thus can cause the known sensors and controllers used to determine the height of the box to incorrectly determine the height of the box. If this incorrect measurement or interpretation is made, this can result in the box getting jammed in the box sealer, the box sealer not adequately closing and sealing the box, the box sealer damaging the box, and/or the box sealer damaging the box and the product(s) in the box.
Another potential or actual issue or problem with various known random box sealers relates to the sensors used to measure the height of the box and specifically the height of the top end or side flaps. Various known sensors (such as light curtain sensors) can provide inaccurate readings for a variety of reasons. For instance, these sensors can be incorrectly installed or incorrectly calibrated. These sensors can also become dirty. These sensors may also have only limited accuracy. In such cases, the sensors and controllers used to determine the height of the box may incorrectly determine the height of the box. If this incorrect measurement or interpretation is made, this can result in the box getting jammed in the box sealer, the box sealer not adequately closing and sealing the box, the box sealer damaging the box, and/or the box sealer damaging the box and the product(s) in the box.
Another potential or actual issue or problem with various known random size box sealers relates to the sensors used to measure the height of the box and specifically the height of the top end and side flaps. These sensors are typically relatively expensive and thus make the known random box sealers relatively expensive.
Accordingly, there is a need for new and improved random box sealers and methods for automatically sealing boxes of different sizes that solve these problems or issues.